Cradock
writes:
"As to Mary Hutchinson's pool, I think that it was not on the beck
anywhere, but some detached little pool, far up the hill, to the
eastwards of the Hall, in 'the woods.
writes:
"As to Mary Hutchinson's pool, I think that it was not on the beck
anywhere, but some detached little pool, far up the hill, to the
eastwards of the Hall, in 'the woods.
William Wordsworth
It is a short way below some fine specimens of ice-worn
rocks, which are to the right of the stream as you ascend it, and above
these rocks is a well-marked moraine. It is a deep crystal pool, and has
a "firm margin" of (artificially placed) stones. This may be the spot
described in the poem; or another, within the grounds of the Hall, may
be the place referred to. It is a sequestered nook, beside the third
waterfall as you ascend the beck--this third cascade being itself a
treble fall. Seen two or three days after rain, when the stream is full
enough to break over the whole face of the rock in showers of snowy
brightness, yet low enough to shew the rock behind its transparent veil,
it is specially beautiful. Trees change so much in eighty years that the
absence of "beeches" now would not make this site impossible. In a MS.
copy of the poem (of date Dec. 28, 1800), the last line is
'With all its poplars, we have named from you. '
Of the circular pool beneath this fall it may be said, as Wordsworth
describes it, that
'. . . both flocks and herds might drink
On its firm margin, even as from a well;'
and a "small slip of lawn" might easily have existed there in his time.
We cannot, however, be confident as to the locality, and I add the
opinion of several, whose judgment may be deferred to. Dr.
Cradock
writes:
"As to Mary Hutchinson's pool, I think that it was not on the beck
anywhere, but some detached little pool, far up the hill, to the
eastwards of the Hall, in 'the woods. ' The description does not well
suit any part of Rydal beck; and no spot thereon could long 'remain
unknown,' as the brook was until lately much haunted by anglers. "
My difficulty as to a site "far up the hill" is, that it must have been
a pool of some size, if "both flocks and herds might drink" all round
it; and there is no stream, scarce even a rill that joins Rydal beck on
the right, all the way up from its junction with the Rothay. The late
Mr. Hull of Rydal Cottage, wrote:
"Although closely acquainted with every nook about Rydal Park, I have
never been able to discover any spot corresponding to that described
in Wordsworth's lines to M. H. It is possible, however, that the
'small bed of water' may have been a temporary rain pool, such as
sometimes lodges in the hollows on the mountain-slope after heavy
rain. "
Mr. F. M. Jones, the agent of the Rydal property, writes:
"I do not know of any pool of water in the Upper Rydal Park. There are
some pools up the river, 'Mirror Pool' among them; but I hardly think
there can ever have been 'beech-trees' growing near them. "
There are many difficulties, and the place cannot now be identified.
Wordsworth's own wish will doubtless be realised,
'The travellers know it not, and 'twill remain
Unknown to them. '
Ed.
* * * * *
THE WATERFALL AND THE EGLANTINE
Composed 1800.
rocks, which are to the right of the stream as you ascend it, and above
these rocks is a well-marked moraine. It is a deep crystal pool, and has
a "firm margin" of (artificially placed) stones. This may be the spot
described in the poem; or another, within the grounds of the Hall, may
be the place referred to. It is a sequestered nook, beside the third
waterfall as you ascend the beck--this third cascade being itself a
treble fall. Seen two or three days after rain, when the stream is full
enough to break over the whole face of the rock in showers of snowy
brightness, yet low enough to shew the rock behind its transparent veil,
it is specially beautiful. Trees change so much in eighty years that the
absence of "beeches" now would not make this site impossible. In a MS.
copy of the poem (of date Dec. 28, 1800), the last line is
'With all its poplars, we have named from you. '
Of the circular pool beneath this fall it may be said, as Wordsworth
describes it, that
'. . . both flocks and herds might drink
On its firm margin, even as from a well;'
and a "small slip of lawn" might easily have existed there in his time.
We cannot, however, be confident as to the locality, and I add the
opinion of several, whose judgment may be deferred to. Dr.
Cradock
writes:
"As to Mary Hutchinson's pool, I think that it was not on the beck
anywhere, but some detached little pool, far up the hill, to the
eastwards of the Hall, in 'the woods. ' The description does not well
suit any part of Rydal beck; and no spot thereon could long 'remain
unknown,' as the brook was until lately much haunted by anglers. "
My difficulty as to a site "far up the hill" is, that it must have been
a pool of some size, if "both flocks and herds might drink" all round
it; and there is no stream, scarce even a rill that joins Rydal beck on
the right, all the way up from its junction with the Rothay. The late
Mr. Hull of Rydal Cottage, wrote:
"Although closely acquainted with every nook about Rydal Park, I have
never been able to discover any spot corresponding to that described
in Wordsworth's lines to M. H. It is possible, however, that the
'small bed of water' may have been a temporary rain pool, such as
sometimes lodges in the hollows on the mountain-slope after heavy
rain. "
Mr. F. M. Jones, the agent of the Rydal property, writes:
"I do not know of any pool of water in the Upper Rydal Park. There are
some pools up the river, 'Mirror Pool' among them; but I hardly think
there can ever have been 'beech-trees' growing near them. "
There are many difficulties, and the place cannot now be identified.
Wordsworth's own wish will doubtless be realised,
'The travellers know it not, and 'twill remain
Unknown to them. '
Ed.
* * * * *
THE WATERFALL AND THE EGLANTINE
Composed 1800.
